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Court approves proposal for sex change

A panel of judges in Ungaran district approved the proposal for a woman to change her sex status to male, after the trial ended on Thursday

Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post)
Ungaran
Fri, July 26, 2013

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Court approves proposal for sex change

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panel of judges in Ungaran district approved the proposal for a woman to change her sex status to male, after the trial ended on Thursday.

The verdict was read without the presence of the applicant, Supriyanti, 23, of Canggal hamlet, Kaliwungu village in Kaliwungu district, Semarang regency, Central Java.

She was represented by her lawyer Agus Mandono. The trial started on July 3, 2013.

'€œSupriyanti was here but went home because there were so many journalists,'€ Supriyanti'€™s elder sister told presiding judge Kadarwoko.

Supriyanti is the sixth child of Sukiyo, 55, and Suliyem, 55. She was born as a baby girl. Later, however, a bump grew in her genitals. A hormonal test at the Semarang Dr. Kariadi hospital revealed that she showed characteristics and hormones of a man.

Despite undergoing genital surgery three times when she was a junior high school student. Yet, her gender status remained female.

Kadarwoko said the court could not change Supriyanti'€™s name on her elementary, junior high and senior high school certificates as it was beyond the court'€™s authority. He suggested Supriyanti to have her name changed on her own.

'€œThe court'€™s ruling can be used as a reference for changing the name in the certificates,'€ he said.

Supriyanti told the court that she had feelings for girls and that she wanted her name changed into Agus Supriyanto.

Andrologist Ahmad Yulfa who handled Supriyanti'€™s sex change surgeries testified on July 10 that after the surgeries, Supriyanti finally had a penis that functioned normally.

'€œOnly, he cannot have a child because both of his testis had been removed because of cancer,'€ he said.

Supriyanti was not the first '€œgirl'€ to receive a court ruling for a sex status change in the province. In December 2011, Siti Maimunah, 19, a resident of Genuk district, Semarang city, received a verdict for a gender status change from the Semarang District Court.

He later named himself Muhammad Prawirodirjoyo or Joyo as he called himself.

During the hearing, then Siti maimunah said that she possessed male genitals but was forced to become a girl because his parents wanted a female child after his other four siblings were all male.

'€œMy parents wanted a female child, so when I was born I was named Siti Maimunah,'€ Joyo said.

He was admitted to a female pesantren, an Islamic boarding school, by his parents. After finishing his senior high school in 2010, he worked at a company as male worker. He said he had been supported by his boss in the company to obtain his status.

In '€œher'€ teenage years, Siti Maimunah had never menstruated and had never been interested in men.

'€œSince birth, my reproductive system has been male. I'€™m glad about this, and call me Joyo,'€ he said.

In 2012 the Kendal District Court gave a verdict ruling that Masti Agustina, a woman, could change her gender. Masti changed his name to Mastyan Agustino.

In February, the Cibinong District Court in Bogor regency, West Java, approved an application involving a toddler, to change gender from female to male.

The verdict was based on a medical statement from the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital stating the toddler'€™s chromosomes were dominated by male chromosomes.

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